Under His Wings

Two more weeks of Bible study have gone past since my last blog post.  Where has the summer gone?  Last week we talked about repentance and forgiveness.  We need to walk in repentance....even moment by moment.  The Biblical concept of repentance is not a one time event as is so many times seen today in evangelistic crusades.  John the Baptist talked about bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.  The Prophets, the Jesus and Paul, yes even the Torah all talk about turning back to God.  Jesus told those in His hearing to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand.  In the 2nd Temple period in which Jesus lived the Kingdom of God was the place in which God was King. When we allow God to reign and rule in our lives then the Kingdom of God is here in us.  We need to repent and give up our way and seek to do things according to God's agenda.

I was talking with a young lady this afternoon, a very driven young lady, who has suddenly stopped reading her Bible because she thinks she has done something that cannot be forgiven.  I told her that there is only One perfect Lamb of God and that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.  We have to trust in His authority to forgive us.  We need Him to wash our feet, so to speak.  This takes humility and repentance.

Today's Bible study was on walking with God in Joy.  We looked at the passages in Galatians 5, Psalm 16, Psalm 30 and James 2:1.  Since joy is a fruit of the Spirit, God's Spirit. It is supernaturally obtained when we rest in Him.  We rest in Him by being obedient to what He asks us to do.  Elisabeth Elliot once said that joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God in the midst of the suffering.  So many times we allow the suffering or the trial that we are going through to be blown up like a balloon before our eyes so that we cannot see anything be the trial before us.  God, in comparison, looks small.  We need to pop that balloon so that we can see God for who He truly is.  He is able to accomplish what concerns us.  He is greater that anything thing that we are facing here on earth and He is good.  We don't necessarily have any guarantees as to how our circumstances are going to turn out, but we can count on the ROCK of our salvation and on His character because He never changes.  In His presence is fullness of joy.

For His Name's Sake.

What's been going on since Hanukkah?  Well, we have had quite a bit of snow.  The first snow storm here yielded around 14 inches and then we got another 8-1o shortly after that.  Last week it rained here, but we didn't get the thunderstorms and tornadoes that went south of us.  It snowed a couple of inches again last night so everything looks white again.  Hannah keeps telling me she hates winter, but I find it is better to just take each day as it comes and not complain.  I don't tell her that.  Hopefully, it shows.

The beginning of the new year has been slow at the crisis pregnancy center.   Right before the holidays we were busy.  I did a couple of pregnancy tests on that were negative.  Unfortunately, I don't think I convinced the girls to stop having s**.   They keep telling us to pray for more clients.  They are going to train more volunteers in the next couple of weeks.

We are currently learning about the covenants in the salvation class I am taking online.  The midterm was posted last night.   How would you answer these questions?

• Discuss the issue of mankind's inability to know or to believe in God.
• Discuss the doctrine of election.
• How would you answer a person who argues that if God chooses who will be saved, then there is no need to evangelize anyone?

These are just part of the midterm. I have a week to answer the questions.  For my term paper I have chosen the topic, "The Doctrine of Salvation in the Emergent  Church"  so I have been reading a couple of books from  emergent writers which has been interesting.

I have made some inroads as far as knowing what my migraine triggers are.  I have found that  gluten is a major trigger and red dye.   I have been on a diet of no sugar, no dairy, and no wheat since just before Thanksgiving.  There have been weeks in this process that I have had a migraine every day and have been more able with the restricted diet to pinpoint the problem.  This is good news, but it also means learning news ways to cook.

I have also been doing a lot of knitting and have just finished one sock of a pair I am making for Hannah so when the other sock is finished I will take a picture to share with you all.

May the grace of Messiah be with you all in this new year.

For His Name's Sake.

Covenant obligation.  What is it and where does it begin?  These are the things I have been pondering and confused about in the last couple of weeks.  What is our obligation before God?  Most of the world lives like we do not have an obligation to Him, but that He is obligated to us.

In our Western mindset we tend to think in a linear thought.  We want things to be black and white, either this way or that way.   We don't like the tension that is at times inevitable in both Biblical thinking, as well as, in relationships.  For example,  the arguments that have gone on through the ages regarding free will or predestination.  We want it to be one or the other, but Middle eastern thought would accept a kind of tension.  Remember the movie, "Fiddler on the Roof" where Tevye says, "On the other hand".  One can look at both sides of the situation equally.

Growing up in Evangelicalism I was taught that we are saved and then we make Jesus our Lord.  The model that I always pictured was the Israelites coming out of Egypt......a linear progression.  God saved them from slavery, then He "baptized" them in the Red Sea, then He made a covenant with them at Sinai.  While this is a model of what happens to us spiritually, it is not quite as linear as this in reality.  When God does a work in us it is relational and not necessarily a nice and tidy, step by step account.  We can't necessarily say that He will do this first and next He will do this, etc.  But,  we can say that He saves His own and brings them into covenant with Himself.

So I guess those who are saved are obligated to God since we are in covenant with Him.  But, what are our obligations?  What is the covenant?  Each covenant has to have at least three things: 1) the parties 2) the stipulations 3) the promises.  The covenant we, as Gentiles, are a part of would be the New Covenant which can be found in Jeremiah 31:31-33 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

Who are the parties to this covenant?  God and His people which are here stated as Israel and Judah (and in the same passage, all of Israel) In the gospels, Jesus said that His blood was part of the New Covenant and in the Apostolic Scriptures, Paul says that the Gentiles are grafted into Israel.  So this covenant includes us when we are In Messiah.

What are the promises?  In verse 34 God says that He will forgive their iniquity.  He also says that He would write the Torah on their heart and that they would be His people and He would be their God.

Writing the Torah on their heart would enable the people to keep the stipulations, or obligations of the covenant which they could not keep in the flesh.  God made this possible when the Holy Spirit was given at the Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost in Acts 2.   There are obligations to obey the covenant.  God gives us the ability to obey.  It is only by His faithfulness that we are able to walk in His ways.

This quote is from a forum I am on and it encouraged me so much when the woman wrote it that I want to share it with you in the hopes that it will encourage you also.   For His Name's Sake.

"Ultimately, however, our faith is a gift from God, and likewise our faithfulness to Him is guaranteed by His faithfulness to complete His work in us.  Even though we must cooperate, if we are truly His we will do so, even though not always perfectly. Thus while I think such a distinction is very important to understand as clearly as possible, ultimately we must rest in His faithfulness to us, and we strive to be faithful to Him because He has given us the heart to do so. To God be the glory!"

We are in the fourth chapter of the book of Romans in my Sunday evening Bible study.   It has taken me quite some time to write about this because I have been mulling over the the concepts of this study for the past several weeks.   It is, at times, difficult to wrap my brain around Paul in his Hebraic context when my 21st century evangelical mind has been taught so differently.   Such is the case in the concept of righteousness.

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1) God takes us from having no ability to seek him, from doing nothing good, and He does the work in me. "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit"(1 Peter 3:18)

What is Righteousness?  " ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Romans 4:3)  Abraham's faith was credited to his account as righteousness.  Righteousness.......acting in accord with moral law, free from guilt or sin.  This is the idea that we have of righteousness and we think that it means that we have a ticket to heaven.  In one aspect righteousness does mean to act in accord with moral law; to be upright, to do what is right.

If we talk about the righteousness of God.......for example in Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."  In the gospel, the good news of God sending Messiah as He promised, His doing what is right is revealed from faith to faith.  God's righteousness is His doing what is right.  Faith is the idea of faithfulness.  God's faithfulness and our faithfulness which He enables.

Another aspect of righteousness is in the context of a law court.  You see this especially in the book of Psalms where you read of the righteous and the wicked.  God will judge the righteous and the wicked.  The righteous will one day be vindicated.  The wicked will be punished.  "Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. " Psalm 1:5-6

One final way righteousness is used is covenant membership.  In the first few chapters of Romans, Paul is addressing Jews and Gentiles as to who should be covenant members of God's household.  He is using Abraham as an example and the sign of circumcision which was the seal of the covenant.  By the time of the Second Temple period, in which Paul was writing, the Jewish elders had made circumcision a requirement to come into the covenant.  Paul is making a case that this doesn't need to happen.  "Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness."(Genesis 15:6) ""And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you."(Genesis 17:11)  God declares Abraham righteous and then makes him a covenant partner.

Now, there are ramifications of being a covenant partner.  Covenant partners have obligations.  If you look back in Genesis 15 there are three things that God promised Abraham that he would do: give him land, give him descendants, and give him a seed that would bless the nations (Messiah) .  But, what were Abraham's obligations to the covenant?  This is where my thoughts have been dwelling these last several days.  Since this post is getting long and I have to do final preparations on the two studies that I am leading today, I will come back to this topic of covenant obligation later.   Please share any thoughts that you have.

For His Name's Sake.

I have never even heard of the word before and now here I am in week three of a class studying, "The Biblical Doctrine of Salvation" with Tim Hegg at Torah Resource. I have learned many things from Mr. Hegg in the last five years and have gone to see him give a lecture on "What's so New about the New Covenant" in St. Paul, Minnesota a few years ago.  There have been many times when I thought that I would like to take one of the classes that he offered online but finances did not permit me to do so.  Well, here I am.  I am really hoping that I am not in over my head.  I am learning so much from the class, but the things that are unnerving me just a bit are the midterm, the final and the 10-12 page research paper that are required should I decide to take the full track of the course.  I have no idea right now what to do the paper on.  Mr. Hegg made a suggestion this week in his lecture for a topic and that topic was to look at the later rabbinic writings on nature of man or the evil inclination and see if they were possibly reacting to the emerging Christian Church.

You see Rabbinic Judiasm believes in the yetzer 'ra (evil inclination) and the yetzer tov (good inclination) and that man was born with the capacity to choose either.  If man has the Torah and studies Torah, this will feed the yetzer tov and man can basically pull himself up by the bootstraps thereby saving himself.

Biblically, however, man is born with a sin nature which was imputed to us because of Adam's sin.  The Bible says, beginning in Gen. 6:5 "Then Adonai saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  To the Hebrew way of thinking the heart is where we think and where we make choices.  In Jeremiah 17:9 it says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and "anush"(which is what it is in the Hebrew) meaning incurable."  The only possible cure is to get a new heart.

In the New Testament there are many images used to describe the way this is done in our lives: resurrection, new birth, and creation.  Paul says, "You were dead in your trespasses and sins...But God made us alive together with Messiah...." Eph. 2:1-5  "If anyone is in Messiah he is a new creation....."(2 Cor. 5:17)  and Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again (John 3)

There have been so many other things that have been mentioned so far such as the Order of Decrees which is the way the Christian church has been teaching soteriology for the past 2,000 years.   But, this is different than studying Biblical theology.

There are many things to think about: "Did God create evil?", "Did God allow evil?",  "Do we have a sin nature or not?",  "Was Adam's sin imputed to us?",   "Do we have free will?"

Every week has encouraged me and caused me to praise my Creator and my Redeemer.  He is Faithful and He will bring to completion what He began in me.

For His Name's Sake.

"The Torah of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward." Psalm 19:7-11

Though I have not mentioned it, this week on the Biblical calendar is the Lord's appointed time of the Feast of Booths or Sukkot.  You can read about the Feast of Booths in Leviticus 23:34-36.  But, it is the day that comes shortly after Sukkot that I want to write about today.  This is the day called Simchat Torah or "Rejoicing in the Torah".   Simchat Torah comes on the 23rd of the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar which is the month of Tishrei (the current month) and will be on Friday.  Remember that the Word Torah means "teaching" and it is God's way of showing us the path to Life.  We cannot understand the whole of the Scriptures unless we understand the foundation of the Torah.

I have read, in a number of places, this Nine-fold purpose of the Torah which I want to share here.  God is a wonderful Father and Teacher who wants only the best for those who choose to walk in His ways.

• The Torah reveals the good, holy, just and perfect nature of God and serves as the universal standard of His will for man.  Romans 2:17-18, 7:12; 2 Peter 1:4.
• The Torah gives us the knowledge of sin and reveals the depth of our own sin. Romans 3:20, 4:15, 7:7-12; Luke 20:46-47
• The Torah is our schoolmaster, showing us that we are guilty before God and leading us to Jesus, our Messianic justification. Romans 10:4; Gal. 3:21-24; Romans 3:19
• The Torah is the measure of our deeds toward both God and his fellow man, guiding the way in all matters of life and doctrine.  1 Tim. 8-10; 2 Tim. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:13; 6:1-12; Rom 2:12-16; Rev. 20: 12-13
• The Torah teaches believers how to serve, worship and please God. Psalms 19: 7-9; Acts 18:13-15.
• The Torah is written in our hearts by the indwelling Spirit of God whose work in us is to cause us to delight in and desire to live in obedience to God's desires.  Jer. 31:33; Rom. 7:6-25; Heb. 10:15-16.
• The Torah teaches believers the true path to happiness and prosperity, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and materially, by explaining the rewards of obedience to the rule and reign of God in our lives and the penalty of disobedience when His Lordship is rejected/ignored. Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3; Luke 12:31-32.
• The Torah teaches us that only by grace and faith in the power of God at work in us do we fulfill its principles and instructions; hence, called the Law of Faith, Romans 3:27, 31.
• Torah teaches us how to treat our fellowman. Lev. 19:18; Gal. 5:4; Gal 6:2

"They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb"

For His Name's Sake

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Romans 1:16-17

My Sunday evening Bible study group has been meeting for about six years. Through those years we have studied the Torah, the Gospels, the Book of Acts and we have at last come to the book of Romans. We have been in Romans for about a month, maybe a month and a half and have gotten as far as chapter one verse 17 because we have been talking about background information on Paul and his perspective and culture.

Verses 16 and 17 of chapter one took on new meaning for me tonight. I remember saying these verses over and over with 1st through 3rd graders in AWANA many times and trying hand signals or whatever it took to help them learn. But, now I see so much more.

For Paul the good news would not be just a little tract similar to what is used so often today to try to get someone to pray a prayer to get to heaven. Paul came from a very different mindset. Paul's gospel is a gospel about the One True God, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who keeps His promises to His people, which was told through the prophets of old. It is a gospel concerning His Son, Yeshua the Messiah through whose death we have forgiveness of sins and who was raised from the dead as the first fruits of those who believe. This Messiah has become Lord and King.

Paul says in Romans 1:17 that in this gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." In verse 5 of the same chapter he says he has received apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His Name's Sake.

Let's see. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. The righteous shall live by faith. In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith..... obedience of faith among the Gentiles. Do you see? God's faithfulness in doing what is right leads to our faithfulness which magnifies God's righteousness which leads others to faith.....from faith to faith. The Hebrew word for faith is "emunah" which is "faithfulness". It is the idea of walking out our trust in who God is/obeying Him.

For His Name's Sake

We are entering again into the time of the Biblical holidays that are called the "Fall Feasts". The Feasts which are celebrated annually in the fall season are that of Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement and Sukkot or The Feast of Tabernacles. You can find a page in my sidebar in which I have written on the Biblical Holidays in the past.

Currently, we are in the Hebrew month of Elul which is used for a time of self-examination and preparation for the High Holidays. It is a time of repentance. I time to get closer to the L-rd.

I have been working through a personal workbook which I found on a website called Torah Family (the link will take you directly to the workbook) Repentance is a turning. It is a turning of my own way and turning back to God. It calls for a change of mind, heart, and behavior.

There are a couple of verses so far that have particularly convicted me as I have been working through this little pamphlet. One of them is found in the book of Numbers chapter 15:38-40 "Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God."

My own heart and my own eyes, my own desires can be a source of idolatry in my life. The tassels on the garments of Israel were to be a reminder of God's commandments and as they lived in community they would see the tassels on the garments of each other. My heart and my eyes are to be focused on the commandments of God and doing His desire, not my own. Otherwise, I fall into harlotry against my God.

Another hard hitting verse is Isaiah 65:2, " I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts," This verse has a Hebrew doublet in it. A doublet is when there are two thoughts which say the same thing. For example, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path". This is two ways of saying that the Word of God shows us the next step to take in our walk with God. In the Isaiah passage, God is saying that He holds out His hands to His people, but they are rebellious. Instead of following His way, they follow their own thoughts.

In 2 Corinthians 10:5 the apostle Paul says, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ". I have been challenged to be more diligently in the Word and in prayer to know God. I want to know Him. I want to know His thoughts that I might follow Him more closely.

For His Name's Sake.

Yesterday was our last summer ladies' Bible study for another year. We have been meeting with this particular group for five years now and it has been a life changing study for me. Some of these women I only see in this summer Bible study; some of the women were new this year. We come from very different backgrounds and with very different needs. The Lord is always present as we seek Him.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, this year we studied the journey of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt through the wilderness to the Promised Land. So yesterday we asked the question, "What did God especially teach you this summer?"

I think that I learned above all that in a world that is looking for an experience with God our walk with Him is about relationship. Over and over He states in His Word, directly or indirectly, His desire to dwell with His people. God brought them out of Egypt for His Name's Sake and so that they could serve Him. He led them through the wilderness covering them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, protecting them. He cared for their needs, their shoes never wearing out. He fed them. He desired that they look to Him to meet those needs. When they entered the Land which had been promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob He fought for them so that they could defeat their enemies.

True life is found in a relationship with God. Jesus talked about this. In John 17:3, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" Not experience, relationship. A knowing, covenant relationship of give and take.

I could talk about this for a long time I guess. It amazes me. And thrills me. This is the Promised Land. To walk with God in this relationship now......and forever. One of the days of our Bible study the question came up of what exactly the Promised Land was. Is it death? Is it heaven? No. I believe it is Now! We can know the joy of walking with the indwelling Messiah now. One day we will see Him face to face, but we can know the reality of that relationship by responding in obedience to Him now. And resting in His faithfulness. I will have to revisit the topic of rest.

Our tradition in summer Bible study is on the last day we have a day of blessing one another. We go from woman to woman and tell each one how she has encouraged us, blessed us and we bless the Lord for her. There are times of tears and laughter, hugs and challenge. It is something we take very seriously and we pray before we arrive so that we are ready for how the Spirit will lead. This year I was going in one direction and the Spirit led me a different direction. I found a wonderful resource here on the Names of God. I was led to pray for each woman and the Lord helped me to pick a Name of Him which I saw Him working in each woman's life. For example, one woman has an autistic daughter and a husband who is disabled. The Name of God which I choose to bless Him with for her was "He who is sufficient for His people." For another woman the Lord led me to pick, "He who gives songs in the night" and it was so evident from the circumstances in the room that it was totally of Him. It was just a wonderful morning and we were challenged to encourage others every day.

For His Name's Sake.

Just before they reached the Promised Land Moses gave the children of Israel some final instructions.  How interesting that just at the time one of my Bible studies is studying this the Torah portions are in the Book of Deuteronomy where Moses gives these final instructions.   During our time of worship at our house fellowship this week some Scriptures were highlighted that I would like to share here.

"The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you." Deuteronomy 7:22   One thing that I noticed in particular is that this battle for the Promised Land is going to be something that the Israelites and God do together.  God says repeatedly that He will destroy the enemy and then they will do it.  But in this verse God says that the job will be done "little by little" and that it will not be done quickly.  Why?  One thing he says is that the wild beasts will become too numerous.  But, I think it is also that living in the Promised Land is a relationship with God that will last for eternity.

The other passage that we noticed is in Deuteronomy 10:12-22, "Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD'S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.

So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.

For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.

So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.

He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.

Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven."

This passage shows the awesomeness of God in the highest heavens, yet the mercy of God that he cares for the widow and the orphan.  It shows that God is a Judge who acts justly, not taking a bribe and shows love for the alien.  He is a covenant keeping God.  It talks about cutting the flesh away from our hearts to serve the Lord in purity, keeping the commandments in righteousness before Him.  He has done awesome things for His people.  There is blessing and freedom in obeying Him.

For His Name's Sake.